The
workshop will be held jointly with the CEOS Cal/Val Subgroup
on Land Product Validation. Presentations will be given on
recent satellite fire product validation and breakout groups
undertake to explore opportunities for international collaboration
and to develop protocols product validation and reporting.

The
goal of this regional GOFC-GOLD workshop is to promote a coordinated
effort among scientists in the region towards building an
observational boreal forest network which would result in
operational monitoring of forest cover and forest cover change,
and to make data and information on forests usable and accessible.
The workshop will examine current uses of remote sensing in
studies of forest cover and carbon exchange in the region,
evaluate existing data sets useful for validation and interpretation
of remote sensing data products, identify future needs of
different user groups, and plan future interdisciplinary research
and exchange activities. The workshop will also discuss forest
inventory, monitoring, management, and conservation. They
will explore current gaps of knowledge in land use and the
carbon budget for the region, including understanding of changing
disturbance regimes and driving forces of land use change.

The
second annual GOFC-GOLD Scientific and Technical Board is
being held at the European Space Agency's headquarters in
Frascati, Italy. The STB ensures the continuing progress toward
GOFC-GOLD's long-term objective of providing on-going space-based
and in-situ observations of forests and other vegetation cover
for sustainable management of terrestrial resources, and to
obtain an accurate, reliable, quantitative understanding of
the terrestrial carbon budget.

The
LPV Subgroup brings together scientists who are working to
produce and validate land surface parameter products derived
from spaceborne sensors. This meeting will focus on Leaf Area
Index (LAI) products and will provide a forum to discuss validation
methods, protocols and opportunities for international collaboration.
Issues to be discussed will include a review of current LAI
validation activities and the identification potential gaps.

This
workshop is aimed at preparing for systematic global observations
of the terrestrial carbon sources and sinks. Further development
of the in situ component by addressing how it can best contribute
- in terms of data, analysis, networking etc. - to the global
system will be discussed. Participants will represent programs
at various levels: global, continental and regional, as well
as some national programmes. It is hoped that opportunities
for enhanced collaboration and specific new actions to develop
the in situ component of TCO will emerge that will not only
assist scientific efforts but also national efforts to assess
carbon stocks and fluxes.

Co-sponsored
by WGISS and GOFC-GOLD, the WGISS Test Facility has been established
to prototype and demonstrate the use of interoperable data
and services. The purpose of this meeting will be to conduct
technology integration of the WTF-GOFC prototypes across new
implemented interfaces and servers. Resolving any implementation
issues and identifying new GOFC requirements for the future
OGC testbeds will also be addressed.

Internet
Workshop 2001 (IWS2001)
Feb. 22, 2001 - hosted by National Center of Sciences
Co-sponsored by the National Institute of Informatics (NII)
and the Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST). IWS2001
is promoting interdisciplinary co-operation between research
in next generation Internet technologies with applications
in fields such as; agriculture, earth environment, medicine,
digital library, and education, by using key technologies
and products. As part of IWS2001, GOFC-GOLD will be the main
focus of the IWS2001 Natural Resource Sessions; various GOFC-GOLD
initiatives and activities will be discussed.Location: Tokyo, JapanContact: Shin-ichi Sobue, NASDA Tel: 81-3-3438-6344Fax: 81-3-5401-8702Email:sobue.shinichi@nasda.go.jpWWW: http://iws2001.jp.apan.net/

GOFC-GOLD-WGISS
Test Facility (WTF) meeting
Feb. 23, 2001 - hosted by NASDA/EORC
One of the main objectives of this meeting is to discuss with
Southeast Asia scientists the creation of a plan for implementing
a GOFC Asian Project. Discussions about issues raised at the
earlier two meetings, running demos, and NASDA requirements
will also be part of this meeting.Location: Tokyo, JapanContact: Shin-ichi Sobue, NASDA Tel: 81-3-3438-6344Fax: 81-3-5401-8702Email:sobue.shinichi@nasda.go.jp